Fight for Superiority
by Winds of the Desert
Summary: Mutants are treated like trash; nobody ever cares about them. Hermione, a secret mutant witch, realizes that wizards will be treated the same if ever discovered... and for the man she loves, she's not going to let that happen without a fight. ON HIATUS
1. Prologue: Evolution's Next Step

_**Mutants: Evolution's Next Stage?  
>Article By: Rita Skeeter<strong>_

_Mutants. They've been around for years. But what is a mutant really? Some people believe a mutant is simply the next stage of humanity, just a new species desperately trying to make its home in the harsh, unforgiving world we call Earth._

_Others believe mutants are just diseased humans, a perfectly healthy being that has a small flaw in their DNA chain._

_And still others believe mutants are nothing more than cockroaches ready to be squashed under someone's foot, simple beings that shouldn't exist in this world or in any other._

_The Great Mutant Debate began in 1962 when a group of mutants stopped nuclear war between America and Russia. The beach where the mutants were hiding was fired upon, only to have the missiles returned to open sea and nearly hitting the ships that sent them. After this occurrence, the world raged quietly with words, and sometimes actions; were mutants dangerous, or were they just people with no idea what was going on around the?._

_Since the 60's several anti-mutant human groups and anti-human mutant groups have sprouted almost in every country, the largest two being the Purifiers, a group of 'humanity's saviors' who fight mutants on a daily basis, and the Brotherhood of Mutants, a group of spiteful mutants who wish to gain control of the world and show mutant supremacy over humans._

_Also, there have been groups who take both sides, like the mysterious X-Men who've been reported in several major cities in North America and several other countries including Germany, Russia, England, France, and Canada. From speeches given by the X-Men, we can assume they mean humans no harm and are willing to fight against the Brotherhood to stop them from hurting humans._

_But is this true? America's President Adam Frost is seemingly convinced so, claiming he has met with the X-Men's leader and that they've worked out an agreement not to harm each other. But others, like Senator Robert Kelly and the Purifier groups think otherwise, saying simply that they want to lull us into a false sense of security before taking us by surprise._

_Governments are still speculating whether or not this is liable to harm National Security, but for now the question remains the same: "Can mutants be trusted?"  
><strong><br>-Excerpt from 'Mutation: The Key to Our Evolution' by Jean Grey.**_

/\/\/\/\

Hermione read the article over and over, all the while gripping her issue of the 'Daily Prophet' so hard she almost ripped it apart.

"You alright, Hermione?" asked Ron as he ladled his plate full of sausage and eggs, greedily enjoying breakfast more than usual. Harry glanced up at her as she rubbed her eyes in tired frustration.

"No. It's just….. It's barbaric how humans treat these people! They were born a bit different; so what? ! They're treated like zoo animals, things you can stare at like a freak show! I mean, what would happen if humans found out about us? ! We'd be treated exactly the same way!" Hermione nearly shouted, causing several students from other house tables to glance over at her.

"H-Hermione, calm down! They're just mutants! It's not like they really matter!" said Ron, trying to calm her down.

_**Slap!**_

Now everyone in the Great Hall turned and stared as a large red hand-mark began forming on Ron's face as Hermione stood up, trembling with rage, before stalking out of the Great Hall with her eyes filled with tears.

The only one who didn't look shocked was Harry; he looked angrily at Ron before getting up and following Hermione out of the Great Hall, whispers following him as he left.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: *Dramatic music* Buhn buhn buh! ! ! ! Sorry HermioneXRon fans, you are about to be disappointed! WELCOME ALL TO THE NEWEST FANFICTION BY WINDS OF THE DESERT! ! ! This is my first official crossover, so be nice! My other one is a cross between X-Men and X-Men: The Movie, so that really doesn't count, but now, it's for real this time! WHOOHOO! ! ! ! ! BTW, if you want me to update this faster, leave a nice review or simply vote for this story on my profile poll. LATERS! ! !  
>-Wind<em>


	2. Hestia

_A/N: I forgot to mention; this all takes place while they're all in fifth year, so basically they're all fifteen. Just an FYI._

/\/\/\/\

"Hermione…. Hermione! Wait!" Harry called, reaching out and grabbing Hermione's hand to make her slow down. She whirled around, tears tracking down her face. "What, Harry? ! What?" she snapped, eyes bright with pain and anger.

"You know you can't do that! If your emotions get out of control, you'll-." "I know, Harry! It's fine!" Hermione snarled, clenching her hands into fists. "Really? You didn't seem to notice, but you bent my fork and almost started levitating the candlesticks." Harry countered easily.

Hermione froze, gaping at him, before slowly falling into his arms, her body trembling with sobs. "I-I'm sorry," she hiccupped, "I really am. But I can't control it when I'm mad; you should know that!"

"I _do _know that," sighed Harry, rubbing her back in a comforting way. Suddenly, voices started filtering around the corner. Quickly, both Gryffindors both slid into a hidden passage behind a tapestry as Draco Malfoy and his cronies came around the corner.

"Huh, I knew Potter's girlfriend was a strange one! Defending those freaks of nature!" laughed Draco, passing their hiding place unaware of them. "I can't believe Granger, the dirty Mudblood, would actually defend _mutants_! Mutants! They're nothing more than dirty freaks! They're even worse than humans!" added Goyle, drawing laughs from his friends.

Harry felt Hermione begin shaking again in his arms, but he quietly allowed his mind to enter hers: "_Don't listen to them. They're just a bunch of twats,_" he said silently. "_I know that! But…. Aren't you offended too? You're the same as me!_" Hermione thought back.

"_True, telepathy and telekinesis is quite rare even for a mutant, but I am one no matter what I do. But I don't listen to them. Because I know that no matter what they say, they secretly fear us,_" Harry said silently again.

Hermione stilled in his arms, understanding dawning on her features. As she allowed that to sink in, Harry hugged her closer to him, but he suddenly wrinkled his nose. "_Your hair-dye smells awful compared to your real scent,_" he thought with a sigh, missing the natural scent of her hair that he smelled over the summer.

"Well, it's not really natural to have green hair, so you'll have to live with the dye," whispered Hermione, turning to look up at him. "I like green hair better on you than brown hair," complained Harry quietly, staring at her with puppy-dog eyes. "Too bad. Live with it, Potter!" Hermione laughed quietly, poking Harry playfully on the nose.

Harry smiled at her before lightly kissing her on the lips. Hermione deepened the kiss, and soon they were both lost in the moment, making out in their little hideaway, unaware of what was happening outside their school.

/\/\/\/\

"You're sure, Emma?" Magneto asked for the hundredth time. "Erik, how many times must I say it? You have four children, two in America and two in England. There's Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, twin brother and sister. I'm suspecting they'll be picked up by Xavier sometime soon if we do nothing. And there's Lorna and Hestia Dane, also twins, but both girls. Lorna is currently at Maxine's Orphanage for Girls in London, but Hestia was adopted from there when she was two. I have no idea where she is now," said Emma, slowly placing the Cerebro helmet down onto the controls.

They'd rebuilt the telepathic technology after Emma joined the Brotherhood at their secret base, and now Emma had picked up brainwaves from four different mutants, each with brainwaves too similar to Magneto's to be any normal mutants; they had to be family of his. But, after extensive research into Erik Lensherr's family history as well as his personal history, she'd confirmed it; they were his children.

"This is impossible… Are you sure you cannot locate Hestia?" asked Erik, leaning over her shoulder to look at the coordinates. "No. I only know she existed because I called the orphanage; she was brought in with Lorna and is her biological twin sister, but the couple that adopted her couldn't afford another child so they only took Hestia," Emma said, looking over her list of locations for Erik's children and some other mutants she'd found.

"Who was the couple that adopted her?" asked Erik, looking at her with a look of complete seriousness.

"I read the woman's mind. They're name is Granger."

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Whoa, super short, oh well! Next chapter coming soon! And remember; if you want me to update faster, vote for this story on my profile poll or leave a nice review!  
>-Wind<em>


	3. Apology Not Accepted

Charles Xavier could feel Emma Frost using Cerebro 2. He couldn't pinpoint the location, but he could feel the strength of her mind as she scanned his school, as if searching for someone, before withdrawing and disappearing.

He sighed, unable to change the fact that his ex-student was now a Brotherhood member. Scott was still taking her rejection hard, even after seven months.

"Professor? Was that-?" "Yes, Storm, that was Emma," Charles answered his other female student before she could finish her question. All the teachers at the school had been able to feel her penetrating gaze, used to the feeling from having Charles do the same to them often in the past.

Scott shifted in his seat at this, looking slightly crestfallen. Jean rubbed his back comfortingly. "Have you got that list of new student candidates yet?" asked Nightcrawler, easily shifting in his seat to allow his tail to hang comfortably over his shoulder. All the other X-Men- Iceman, Shadowcat, Wolverine, Colossus, Angel- lifted their heads in interest as Charles lifted a sheet of paper off his desk.

"Yes, but I only found two that are in desperate need of assistance," he said, holding up the list. "Which two?" asked Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine. "A pair of twins right here in New York named Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Jean, Storm, Cyclops, and Iceman, I think you'll be enough for them. They're in New York City, in this location," he said, handing them a set of coordinates.

"Right," said Scott, a.k.a. Cyclops, as he stood up, "Let's go shall we?"

/\/\/\/\

"Emma, I'd like you and Mystique to go get Pietro and Wanda, if you don't mind. I shall fetch Lorna," said Erik, placing his helmet on his head and getting ready to leave when Emma said, "No offense, Erik, but I look a lot less menacing than you. I'll get Lorna; you go get Pietro and Wanda."

"And why should we do it this way?" asked Erik, not enjoying being given orders by a subordinate. "Because some of the X-Men are heading for them now and Mystique won't be able to handle them alone, and I can't fight them just yet when Jean is with them. Her telepathy is weak, but it's certainly able to keep me distracted for a while." Emma said very condescendingly before exiting their base.

Erik muttered irritably, "I hate it when she's right." And so Erik left with Mystique to head to NYC.

/\/\/\/\

Emma arrived at the stairs leading up to Maxine's Orphanage for Girls less than an hour later, looking smugly pleased with herself. She walked up the steps and entered to meet a receptionist that was, surprisingly, Japanese.

"Ah, welcome to Maxine's! Are you here to adopt?" asked the receptionist. Emma read her mind, smiling slightly before saying, "No, Miss Oyama, I'm looking for a mutant child you have here. Lorna Dale, to be exact."

Miss Yuriko Oyama blinked at her in surprise, before her gaze darkened with seriousness. "You're one of those X-Men, aren't you?" she hissed. Emma shook her head, causing Yuriko to straighten in surprise. "I'm with the Brotherhood. I'm here on personal business. Now, can you bring Lorna here please?" asked Emma politely.

Yuriko disappeared into the inner halls of the orphanage after showing Emma a waiting room, soon reappearing with a fifteen-year-old girl with green hair and green eyes.

"Ah, hello Lorna! It's nice to meet you! I'm Emma Frost," said Emma, shaking hands with the teen as she sat on the couch opposite her. Lorna stared at, unsure whether to feel suspicious or to feel glad she'd been called out of the others here.

"Um, hello. I'm Lorna Dane, but I guess you already knew that," Lorna said awkwardly.

"So, you're probably wanting to know why I called you here?" asked Emma. Lorna nodded, and as Yuriko was about to leave Emma said, "I believe this pertains to you as well, Miss Oyama. Please sit."

Yuriko looked at her in surprise before sitting next to Lorna, sharing a confused glance with her. "Yuriko, Lorna, I represent the Brotherhood of Mutants, a group of mutants who are fighting humanities growing hatred of mutants in the world. I am a telepath, and I've seen the suffering you've both endured at the hands of humans," said Emma. She shifted to Yuriko.

"When you first developed claws, your family threw you out, treated you like a monster," she said, causing Yuriko to stiffen and nod her head once. Emma turned to Lorna. "Just because your hair is an odd color, all the other girls here laugh at you and call you 'Seaweed' because when you first wake up that's what your hair looks like, all tangled up," she sighed sympathetically, making Lorna run her fingers through her hair uncertainly.

"Ladies, I have seen your inner turmoil, and I've felt your pain and anger at the humans for treating you this way, but the question you must ask yourselves is this; are you going to sit back and take it anymore?" Emma said, addressing both women now.

Lorna narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Hell no I'm not! I'm with you!" Lorna snapped, earning a clap on the back from Yuriko. "You're right! We shouldn't have to take this just because we're a little different!" Yuriko nearly shouted, her eyes filled with glee at the prospect of getting back at the humans.

"Good! Now, if you'll go to your room, Lorna, you can pack, and Yuriko, you can take us to your apartment if you need anything on the way to the airport." Emma said. Both women nodded and Lorna took off back to her room, eyes bright with excitement and determination.

/\/\/\/\

Hermione awoke with a surprised start, her head in Harry's lap as he sat on the Gryffindor common room couch studying. "You okay?" he asked as she sat up.

"Yeah, fine, I just had this bizarre burst of adrenaline all of a sudden, like I was really excited about something," said Hermione, stifling a yawn as she stretched her nap out of her tired muscles.

"Maybe you were excited about the god-awful pop quiz we have in Potions tomorrow," Harry suggested. Hermione looked at him suspiciously, and he grinned. "What? Snape hates me; you can't blame me for trying to keep up as well as I can!" he defended himself weakly.

Hermione punched his arm lightly, grinning as he winced. "Oh, come on, I don't hit that hard!" she laughed at his pained expression. "Yes you do, and you know it!" he retorted, ruffling her hair, causing her to punch him again.

They both went silent as Ron walked past them. Ron stopped beside them and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hermione?" he said uncertainly. Hermione glared at up at him fiercely, making him flinch.

By now everyone in the common room had fallen silent, watching the exchange eagerly. "I'm sorry about earlier, you know, saying mutants don't matter, and all that," Ron said sheepishly.

Hermione shrugged indifferently. Ron looked ready to say something else, but seemed to think better of it and walked away again.

"_You stopped him from making a scene, didn't you?_" she thought, knowing Harry would be listening in. "_I know you wanted me to, and besides, I don't want you to be the one with the bad reputation when he tries to apologize and you barely do anything,_" Harry answered silently, a slight smile ghosting his face.

He glanced around the silent common room. "_You should probably go before my little mind game stops working,_" he suggested. "Right. I'm off to my room," yawned Hermione, out loud this time, before standing and heading to the girl's dorms.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: I think we'll stop here. Good wasn't it? Now we have Polaris and Lady Deathstrike on our side; this is going to be awesome! ! ! ! BTW, remember; vote for this story or leave a nice review if you want this to be updated! And another thing; who do you think Emma should end up with? Sirius? Remus? Erik? Scott? Someone else? Please give your opinions on that in the form of a review! LATERS!  
>-Wind<em>


	4. Finding the Kids

The main door to the warehouse in the middle of a bad area in New York City burst open, no match for Cyclops' optic blasts. He and is his team or X-Men entered warily to find only a few iron and wooden crates and barrels left inside, most near the sides but a few in the middle. "This is where they are?" hissed Bobby a.k.a. Iceman, gazing around as a breeze blew through the door and carried with it the scent of dust and trash.

"This is where the coordinates said they'd be," said Storm uncertainly. "Then where are they?" asked Jean. "I dunno, but keep a sharp eye out," said Scott, slowly moving forward into the cloud of dust that floated about the warehouse.

Suddenly, the click of a lighter could be heard, and a second later a wave of flames came towards them from out of nowhere. Bobby immediately shot a jet of ice out to counter it, holding it in place a few feet from Scott.

The flames suddenly stopped, as if the person shooting them was unsure of what to do next. "Hello?" called Storm, stepping up beside Scott.

"What do you want? !" snapped a male voice, a kid that sounded just a little older than Bobby. "We're not here to hurt you!" Storm assured, then hissed to her team, "Just hold up your hands and don't move."

All her fellow X-Men silently held up their hands, remaining unmoving as they heard some muffled bumps and grumbling voices that didn't carry far enough for them to hear clearly.

"We just want to talk to you for a moment!" Jean called this time. Again, there were more indistinct, unsure mutters behind some of the crates in the middle of the room. "What about?" called another voice, this time female.

"We come from a school for mutants; if you're all the same, we can take you there and give you a better life!" called Storm. Once more, there were indistinct voices, some slightly raised in anger but still too quiet to hear.

Finally the first voice that had spoken called, "A couple of us are interested, but if you do anything to them you're dead!"

And with that, five teenagers appeared from behind the crates; two girls and three boys.

/\/\/\/\

"Well, what do we do?" Wanda hissed to her older brother Pietro as he glared above the crates at the X-Men in their warehouse. He and John Allerdyce were both ready to fight, but since the X-Men seemed unwilling to hurt them, Wanda had convinced them not to.

"I don't know. Betsy, are there anymore of them nearby?" Pietro asked. Betsy closed her eyes and focused before saying, "No, but I think one of them is a telepath; I just avoided alerting her of my presence."

Betsy glanced at her friends Irene and Vanisher (he wouldn't give his human name) uncertainly, unsure of what to do.

"Should we go out there?" asked Wanda, only to be snapped at by Pietro, "Hell no! I'm not letting you of people walk out there alone!" "Then what do you suggest we do, genius? ! Just wait here forever?" snarled Irene, her blind eyes radiating her frustration at being able to see the action.

"Well, if we have to go out, I'm going too!" Pietro announced, his voice full of determination. "Fine. Who else?" asked Wanda, turning to the rest of the older mutants, the younger ones hidden among the crates on the right and left of the room.

Megan raised a hand, her colorful wings fluttering. "I'll go," she said. "Um, Megan, you should probably stay with the little kids; you're the only one that can keep them calm," suggested John. Megan glared at him before nodding resignedly.

"Wait; before we decide who goes, Caliban, what are their powers?" Pietro, asked, looking to the pale disfigured mutant for help.

"Caliban can sense them; the one with the funny glasses has laser-vision, the white-haired woman controls the weather, the red-haired woman is telepathic and telekinetic like Betsy, and the boy can control ice," said Caliban, eyes focused hard on the X-Men.

"Alright…. Okay; Me, Wanda, Betsy, Jamie, and Vanisher. We'll go out there. Megan, you, Caliban, Jason, and Irene go back with the kids and gather them all in the same place. Tell Bella to keep an eye on the X-Men; John, you too. Keep an eye on them," ordered Pietro quickly.

They all nodded and Megan said an incantation; a portal opened next to her and she allowed Caliban, Irene, and Jason to go through before she followed.

Pietro moved to go out when Wanda hissed, "You sure we can handle these guys?" "There's only four of them," said Pietro with a shrug, "What can they do to us?"

/\/\/\/\

Hermione quickly glanced around her to make sure she was alone; once sure there was nobody else in the dorm, she lifted her hand. Immediately all the metal objects in the room began to levitate slowly.

Hermione could always feel the metal connected to her, but she was never able to manipulate it as she wished unless she alone or with Harry.

"_It's in your very nature to manipulate metal,_" said Harry's voice in her head observantly, "_If you don't do it once in a while you'll just feel suffocated._" "_I know. What do you think I'm doing this for?_" she asked sarcastically.

"_Just making sure you did it. Oh, and Lavender Brown is coming up to your dorm in two minutes._"

Immediately Hermione allowed the metal to drop with a loud thud. Lavender appeared seconds later, looking worried. "Did something fall over?" she asked, looking around for the source of the noise.

"Oh, I dropped my book," said Hermione good-naturedly, picking a book off the floor. "Oh, okay then," said Lavender, walking over to her bed and pulling a make-up bag out of her trunk.

"So….. you and Harry huh?" said Lavender suddenly. Hermione blushed slightly but nodded anyway. "Yeah. So?" she asked. "Oh, nothing, we were all just expecting you to go with Ron," Lavender said.

Hermione shook her head fiercely. "Nope. Harry's the only one for me," she sighed, a little dreamily. "How'd it happen?" asked Lavender suspiciously. Hermione froze, then said, "We hooked up over the summer. Nothing special."

Lavender smirked. "Fine, don't tell me!" she laughed, walking out to the bathroom to work on her make-up. Hermione grinned as she left, feeling the tempting hum of her metal hairclips. "_Don't make a scene,_" reprimanded Harry's voice.

"_Oh, fine!_" laughed Hermione, lying back on her bed to relax, content to just feel the magnetic hum of all the metal in the Gryffindor Tower.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: This is where we leave off. PLEASE, please I am begging you, if you REALLY want me to update, give me reviews; I want your opinions! This is my first crossover; I need help from your advice!  
>-Wind<em>


	5. Umbridge Arrives

The group of five stood facing the group of four, both eyeing each other warily. "Well," said Scott in an attempt to diffuse the tension, "Shouldn't we introduce ourselves?"

"Mutant names only," said the white-haired boy who seemed to be the leader of the group. Scott glanced at his team before stepping forward. "Alright, then. I'm Cyclops, and these are my teammates Storm, Marvel Girl, and Iceman," he said, pointing out each of his friends in turn.

"This is Scarlet Witch, Psylocke, Multiple-Man, and Vanisher. I'm Quicksilver," introduced the white-haired buy, mimicking Scott and pointing out his friends in turn. He stopped, narrowing his eyes, and said, "There are more of us, but I'm not saying how many."

"Understandable," said Storm with a shrug. "Would it help our relationship if we told we don't have any other teammates outside?" Jean asked, looking hopeful. Quicksilver glanced at Psylocke who said, "She's telling the truth."

"So," Quicksilver said, turning back to the X-Men, "What do you want?"

/\/\/\/\

Hermione was fuming silently; the newest Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Dolores Umbridge, was a very obvious mutant hater. In their first class, she told them of how mutants were dangerous, violent creatures that deserved to be locked away.

Hermione had almost leaped over her desk and snatched Umbridge by the throat when Harry said, "_Don't play her game! She wants you or any other mutant to make a scene just to make her point!_" Hermione had frozen at this before settling back into her chair, unwilling to play the damn bitch's game.

After that, they had several other classes in Defense, each one worse than the last. It had been discovered that a few witches and wizards within the school were mutants from birth, and Umbridge had great joy in torturing them with questions they couldn't possibly answer. Luckily, Hermione and Harry hadn't been caught yet.

"We're going to get caught, aren't we?" Hermione whispered to him during supper in the Great Hall a week after Umbridge started teaching.

"Probably," sighed Harry, focusing on his food and trying not to worry. "And you're okay with that?" asked Hermione, looking at him desperately. "No, but if she does find out….. I'm leaving." Harry said.

This made Hermione look at him sharply. "What? You can't just leave! She'll just start making up stupid excuses to give you detention, it's nothing serious-!" "Don't you see, Hermione? ! It won't be long before either the Ministry of Magic or the real world's government's start rounding up mutants because we're dangerous! We'll be locked up, I should know; Umbridge was assigned to this school just to keep an eye on the mutant kids, so she can see their abilities, so when they come, they'll be prepared to round us up!" Harry snapped, grabbing her arm to make her realize the danger of the situation.

Hermione's eyes widened, her lips parted in horror, before she hissed, "Then we have to stay; when they come, we'll fight back! We can send them a message! A message that says if you mess with mutants, you _will_ regret it!" Now Harry's eyes widened. "Hermione….. you sound like a Death Eater. Sending messages of power to your weaker opponents! You can't do that!" He gasped.

Hermione's eyes filled with pain for a moment before she said, "I don't care. I'm tired of the way we're treated! Besides, it's not like humans will treat us wizards any differently if we're ever discovered! I cannot let that happen!"

She slowly took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I can't let you or anyone else suffer just because of discrimination for power! I will _never _let you suffer again after what Voldemort did to you," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

After Voldemort had tortured Harry in the graveyard last year, he'd accidentally projected the images into Hermione's head while he was asleep; and she would never allow that to happen to him again.

/\/\/\/\

"So you run a school for mutants that fight for human-mutant peace? That has a jet that comes out of a basketball court?" summarized Quicksilver, looking doubtful.

"Well, when you say it like that it sounds silly, but yeah," said Bobby, grinning; he'd had the same doubts when he first joined too.

"Human-mutant peace? How stupid!" snarled Scarlet Witch, her eyes flashing dangerously with anger. "Scarlet, calm down!" snapped Quicksilver.

She whirled around to him, eyes furious. "We started this group for a reason; to protect our own kind and nobody else, to fight _against _humans! You can't tell me you've forgotten that!" she snarled angrily. Quicksilver hesitated, unsure of what to say, when Psylocke spoke up.

"Forgive me for interrupting, but we have two mutants coming towards us," she said, eyes misted as she located them. "Who is it?" asked Quicksilver, eyes flashing at the possible treachery of the X-Men. Psylocke elaborated, "Some people called the Brotherhood."

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Cliffhanger! Muahahahahaha! ! ! Alright, remember; REVIEW OR DON'T BOTHER READIING! I'm not going to post again until I get at least 2 reviews! HURRAH! ! ! ! ! ! !  
>-Wind<em>


	6. Making Plans

_A/N: Alright, I didn't wait for 2 reviews; but, I'd like to give a shout-out to __**LeonaMasha**__, the first person to leave a review on this awesome story! Thanks so much, Leona! BTW, I'm trying to be as exact as I can to the original comic-book/book characters while also throwing in my own twist, so if I do something completely drastic to a character, please tell me!_

/\/\/\/\

Cyclops and his teammates stiffened in shock at Psylocke's words as Quicksilver sprang into action: "Multiple-Man, Scarlet Witch, keep an eye on the X-Men. Psylocke, Vanisher, go defend the kids. Pyro," he said, raising his voice so the kid behind the middle crates could hear him, "You and Whirlpool keep me covered. I'm going to see what these guys want. Rockslide, be prepared to make a barrier just in case they attack!"

Immediately, all of Quicksilver's followers fell into their orders; Scarlet Witch and Multiple-Man both faced the X-Men, both ready to attack or defend, while Vanisher grabbed Psylocke and disappeared, and all the while, thumps and voices could be heard from behind the crates in the room.

"You can't seriously be thinking of joining the Brotherhood! You can't just-!" Jean began in a rushed horror, but Quicksilver cut her off, "First of all, I never said I'd join anyone, did I? Second, I just want to hear what this guy has to say before I kick his ass!"

"Are you insane? ! The Brotherhood's too strong for you, no matter what your powers are!" Storm gasped, but Scarlet Witch actually laughed at her words. "Then you guys obviously don't know true power!" she snarled, her eyes alight with a fierce flame.

/\/\/\/\

Megan, a.k.a. Pixie, quickly gathered all the smaller mutant children in the warehouse together into one place that was protected on all sides by crates. She sat at the entrance, ready to fight off anyone that dared hurt the children, when she heard Psylocke's voice in her head: "_Pixie, Quicksilver has new orders for you!_"

"_What is it?_" Pixie thought, keeping her eyes peeled as she listened. "_Take Caliban and Toad and go find the Silver-X Team ASAP!_" Psylocke answered. "_The who?_" asked Pixie, perplexed. "_The Silver-X Team! They live in the alleyway between Derek's Café and the Hidden Beauty Fashion Shop on River Street, just a block away from here. Caliban knows them, just follow him!_" Psylocke ordered silently.

"_Alright, alright, I'm going!_" Pixie gasped. She turned towards the little kids, about to ask Psylocke who was going to watch them when Shiro Yoshida, a.k.a. Sunfire, slid into the hiding place beside her. "I'll watch them!" he hissed quietly.

Pixie grinned at him gratefully before saying an incantation and disappearing into one of her portals. She appeared beside Mortimer Toynbee a.k.a. Toad and Caliban, who were hiding with Irene a.k.a. Destiny and Bella a.k.a. Whirlpool.

"Agh! Don't do that!" gasped Toad, jumping as she landed next to him. "Never mind! We have orders!" Pixie snapped at him, grabbing his hand and Caliban's and teleporting them outside the warehouse.

"Caliban, Psylocke said we need to find the 'Silver-X Team', do you know them?" she asked frantically. "Oh, yes, Caliban knows them! Caliban shall show you!" Caliban said in his usual strange talking pattern before leading the way down a hidden alley.

/\/\/\/\

'Approximately thirty-five sets of silverware at each House table. Seven large candlesticks and ten smaller ones. Neville brought the pocket watch he got from his Gran this Christmas. Draco brought a lighter, probably to show off for the girls in Slytherin. At least ten other people brought other assortments of metal things,' Hermione rounded off automatically in her head as she sat down to breakfast.

"_There's that much metal in the room? Wow,_" remarked Harry mentally, his eyes scanning the room. "_Must you always listen to my thoughts?_" Hermione sighed inwardly. "_Sorry. Where it's natural for you to detect metal, it's natural for me to keep my mind open to a conversation, and since I have nobody else that knows of my telepathy I guess I just naturally keep my ears near you,_" Harry said with a shrug.

"_Interesting theory. I'll accept it. Now let's talk out loud before Ron and Ginny start suspecting something,_" Hermione suggested as she noticed both Weasleys looking at them strangely.

The day continued as most days did; a tense, uncomfortable Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Umbridge breathing down their necks, trying to get more mutants to reveal their powers; a rather infamous Potions class where Snape picked on Harry and Hermione had to mangle several light fixtures in the hallway to keep her temper under control; a rather normal, boring History of Magic lesson that had Harry completely blank and Hermione practically asleep no matter how hard she tried to stay awake; a Transfiguration lesson that ended with Neville blowing up the spoon he was supposed to be turning into a snake and him and his partner going to the infirmary.

The day was normal at Hogwarts, but far away, in a dark and sinister mansion, a rather pale and scary man with hardly a nose began to make his plans for world domination.

/\/\/\/\

"And you're sure these 'mutants' can be useful, Wormtail?" asked a cold voice as slit, snake-like eyes studied the cowering form before him. "Y-yes, master! Mutants, unlike wizards, have powers that come naturally, without any training! They could be very useful in our army!" squeaked a rather unattractive, cowardly voice as Wormtail squirmed uncomfortably under his master's gaze.

"Very well then. You may live for now, Wormtail, but mark my words; if you are wrong and mutants are useless to me, I will have your head on a silver platter!" snarled the cold voice, "Get out of my sight!"

Wormtail squealed in terror and ran for his life, not bothering to wait and see if he was allowed to stay among the other Death Eaters.

"Lucius, prepare the others. We have mutants to find," the voice said as the pale face swung around to stare at his other, braver subordinate. "Right away, my lord," said Lucius, bowing and disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.

The head turned and stared out a window, thinking of the possibilities that mutants could bring onto a battlefield. Voldemort grinned. This was going to be Wormtail's only great idea. Mutants and Death Eaters working together. Hell was about to be unleashed onto Earth in an unstoppable wave.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Ha! Another cliffhanger! I just LOVE having a nail biter at the end of a chapter; it tortures the audience! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ! ! ! ! ! Remember; review or don't bother reading! I WANT YOUR OPINIONS! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !  
>-Wind<em>


	7. Ambush

Pixie and Toad silently followed Caliban's chalky white form through the alleyways of Manhattan, succeeding in remaining unseen to the public. They reached the alley that Psylocke had described in record timing to find it totally empty. "Now what?" hissed Toad, eyes filled with anxiety as he stared at the traffic going on the street just outside the alley.

"Caliban senses them! Caliban found them!" laughed Caliban excitedly, pointing to a sewer hatch in the ground. "They're in the sewer? !" gasped Pixie, wrinkling her nose in complete disgust.

Toad shrugged and lifted the hatch and climbed down with Caliban following him. "Pixie is coming?" asked Caliban, looking up at Pixie wonderingly. Pixie wrinkled her nose again before relenting and climbing down after them.

/\/\/\/\

_Hermione was twirling about in the summer grass, barefoot, with her natural green hair waving with the wind. "What is that, a wig?" asked a voice._

_Hermione froze before spinning around to see Harry gazing at her quizzically. "U-uh, yeah! Yeah, it's a wig!" Hermione said, quickly trying to cover her odd hair color with a hood._

_"No it's not."_

_Hermione gaped at Harry as he grinned at her. "How do you know it's not? ! It is a wig!" Hermione snapped at him._

_"_Then why are saying 'I wish he knew the truth' over and over in your head?_" Harry said without moving his mouth. Hermione stood stock-still, unsure what to do as the thought of 'What the heck? ! We haven't learned mind-reading spells yet!' ran through her head._

_"_Well, I guess I'm telepathic then, aren't I?_" said Harry, once again without saying a word. "You are?" said Hermione, her voice squeaking in surprise. "Yep. It started a while after school ended. I thought I was using a spell, but when the Ministry never called I figured out that it was a mutation." Harry explained, tapping his head to show his point._

_"How do you know it's a mutation?" asked Hermione warily. Harry looked at her like she was crazy. "Haven't you heard? The world's full of mutants now, and there _are_ mutant telepaths after all. It's really the only explanation for what I can do. So," he said, "What's your mutation other than green hair?"_

_"Why don't you just read my mind?" Hermione asked, tilting her head at him quizzically at him. "I prefer not using such tactics," Harry said with a shrug._

_"I control magnetic fields," Hermione said. "Sweet! I'm actually telekinetic too, but it doesn't give me any physical trait like your hair…" Harry said, looking thoughtful. "Yeah, well, you should feel lucky; green hair isn't as cool as it looks," grumbled Hermione, running her hands through her seaweed colored hair, "It's really ugly, isn't it?"_

_"What, are you kidding?"_

_Hermione jumped and looked up at Harry, who grinned at her. "That's the prettiest shade of green I've ever seen! It looks better than that brown dye you use!" he exclaimed. "Really?" Hermione asked in surprise._

_"Of course! Hasn't anyone ever liked your hair before?" Harry said, still looking at it with a look of wonderment._

_"Only my parents. All the kids in my neighborhood and anyone else who saw it thought it was disgusting!" Hermione grumbled, once again looking at her hair with distaste._

_"Well, I _love _it!" Harry exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. "And don't let anyone say otherwise, because if they do, I'll hex their heads off!_

_And with that, he spun around and walked off with his head high, as if to prove he really could hex someone's head off._

_Hermione gazed between the retreating form of her best friend and her emerald hair, thinking, 'He's the first guy to ever compliment my real hair.'_

/\/\/\/\

Hermione blinked awake, grinning as the dream faded away. "Someone looks happy today," yawned Parvati Patil, her other dorm-mate, asshe got up from her bed nearby.

"Dream about Harry?" asked Ginny, looking suspiciously at Hermione; ever since word had gotten out about Hermione and Harry's relationship, Ginny had been watching them warily whenever she could, jealousy holding tightly onto her heart.

"Sort of. It was a memory, actually," elaborated Hermione as she began getting dressed in her Hogwarts robes. "Memory of what?" Parvati asked as she woke up Lavender by hitting her with a pillow. "The moment I think I fell for him," Hermione said with a grin. A collective "ooooooh!" from the other girls signaled the beginning of a rather…. unpleasant day for mutant-wizards and witches.

/\/\/\/\

It was a nightmare. The day started off just like usual; everyone gathered into the Great Hall for breakfast at the same time as always. Nothing odd seemed to be happening, but unbeknownst to the students, something odd _was _happening at the staff table.

Umbridge was acting especially bright and happy today, talking more and more in her strange, condescendingly annoying voice. "My goodness, does she ever shut up? Mutant this, mutant that; when's she going to stop with that nonsense?" murmured Professor Snape, feeling irritated that he had decided to get out of bed that morning just to hear Umbridge keep up the mutant talk.

"She does have a right to declare her opinions….. no matter how annoying it might be," sighed Professor McGonagall, trying to block Umbridge's sickly sweet voice with thoughts of the disaster Neville would probably cause in Transfiguration class today.

It was so sudden nobody could've prevented it. One moment Umbridge was talking, and the next moment all of the windows had blown up in a shower of splintering glass. Students screamed in terror as shapes flew in through the sad remains of the windows.

The Hogwarts teachers were about to leap into action when a loud voice commanded "Hold it, Dumbledore!" All of the Professors turned in shock as Cornelius Fudge came in through a window.

"Fudge! What is the meaning of this madness? !" demanded Dumbledore, barely restraining himself from running up and grabbing Fudge by the front of his ridiculously clean business robe.

"No need to panic, Albus. The Ministry is simply gathering all of the mutant students together for safety reasons. Nothing serious," said Fudge with an unconcerned shrug.

"Safety reasons? They were perfectly fine before _this!_" snarled Snape, waving his arm towards the growing mayhem of the Great Hall. Students, mutant or not, were trying to flee through the main doors or even through the broken windows. Hexes, jinxes, and curses flew throughout the air as some mutant students tried to hold back the Ministry officials only to be subdued within seconds.

"It's nothing, Severus! Besides, do you really think the mutant students would've stayed cooperative to you, Albus? Word is travelling around that Voldemort is recruiting mutants now; these children are now nothing more than dangerous time-bombs waiting to go off! We can't risk any of these kids joining Voldemort!" Fudge explained nonchalantly as a hex barely missed him by a foot.

"What will happen to them? !" screeched McGonagall shrilly, her voice filled with strained fear for her students and House members.

"We'll be keeping an eye on them until Voldemort is apprehended. No reason to worry," said one of Fudge's bodyguards. "BULLSHIT!" screamed a voice.

The Great Hall seemed to freeze and grow quiet as the usually calm voice of Harry Potter rose frantically above the former din, "You're going to let the weak mutants rot in Azkaban while the stronger ones will be killed! Don't deny it, Fudge! You can't tell me I'm wrong, especially because I heard you thinking it just a second ago!"

For a second everyone stayed frozen in shock; then Umbridge, who'd been helping in the ambush, laughed harshly. "Look at that! The great Boy Who Lived is a mutant too! How fitting!" She screeched.

"He's not the only one!" Hermione snarled so quietly nobody heard her; she had been trying to discreetly help some of the captured mutants, but forget that idea. She was ready to kick ass for her boyfriend as he stood in the middle of the Great Hall, wand raised at Umbridge.

"I'm tired of this crap, Umbridge! Just try and face me and you'll regret it!" snapped Harry challengingly as he took a step toward her. Umbridge wasted no time at all; she took the bait and cast a curse at Harry, which he easily deflected; the duel had begun.

/\/\/\/\

Pixie didn't sense anyone at all, but the second she dropped into the sewer beside Toad, she felt a long steel knife pressed up against the top of her back, above her wings. "Move and you're dead!" snarled a voice in her ear. Pixie stiffened, seeing Toad and Caliban were in similar situations; Caliban was being held by a teenage girl in a perfect position for her to snap his neck, and Toad had his arm twisted behind his back by a teenage boy about their age.

"O-okay, we're not here to hurt you!" Toad said, holding still in surrender as the boy twisted his arm sharply. "Then why are you here?" snarled a new voice. A black-haired, brown-eyed girl came out of the shadows of the sewer with another girl behind her.

The lead chick stopped in front of Caliban, recognition swimming in her eyes. "Hey, Shelly, isn't this the mutant you told me about? The one that can sense other mutants?" she asked the girl that followed her.

The other girl, Shelly, nodded, and said, "It's alright Aurora, he won't hurt you." Aurora didn't relax her grip, but she did allow Caliban to breathe a little from her strangle hold.

"So who are you?" asked the first girl, glaring at Pixie. Pixie swallowed nervously and said, "I'm Pixie, and my friends are Caliban and Toad. We came here to ask for your help."

"Help with what?" hissed the girl holding a knife to her back. "There's some people- er, mutants, that are coming for our group. We need your help to fight them off!" Toad coughed, trying to loosen the boy's grip on his arm.

"Now why in the world would we help you?" asked the leader. "Our leader, Quicksilver, said you'd help us!" Pixie said quietly. And with that, war was prevented. "Quicksilver? You mean Pietro? Why didn't you say so? Let them go, guys!" laughed the lead girl, waving at her subordinates.

Immediately all three hostages were released, left to stare at their former captors in astonishment. "You know Quic- er, Pietro? !" asked Toad, bewildered.

"Course I do! He and his sister Wanda used to be a part of this group before they decided to make a bigger army! How are they doing?" asked the lead girl, eyes filled with amusement at their shock.

"Not so well. Some mutants called the X-Men came to our hideout, and now some guys called the Brotherhood are coming too. Pietro told us to come find the Silver-X Team, which I'm guessing is you people," said Pixie, staring at the group of five; all of them looked like dirty street beggars, but the leader and another girl looked like they could break a few necks if need be, and the other three looked ready to pick a fight as well.

"Really? Huh, well… I _do _owe Pietro a favor for saving my ass from a car, so…. Alright, I guess will help you guys!" said the lead girl, smiling at them.

"What are your names?" asked Toad.

"This is Aurora, Post, Fatale, and Shelly. You can call me X-23. And, as you guessed, we're the Silver-X Team," said the lead girl, looking at them smugly.

/\/\/\/\

The doors on the other side of the warehouse were crushed by an invisible magnetic force as Magneto and Mystique entered to find the X-Men across from them and a white-haired boy sitting on a crate in the middle, looking like a negotiator.

"Now what do you guys want?" asked Pietro.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Oh, sweet cliffhangers, how do I love thee? Wow, this is the longest chapter so far... let's hope that this continues! LOL, hope you people enjoyed; please give your opinions in a review or vote for this story on my profile poll!  
>-Wind<em>


	8. Improvising

Pietro glared up at the strange pair of mutants that had busted down the only remaining door of his warehouse, looking like they were freaking god sent or something. And the pair definitely was strange; one was freaking blue and the other was wearing a red cape. Yeah, weird.

"So what do you guys want?" he snarled, his mind racing. 'Pixie and her team aren't back yet. I'll have to stall these guys as long as I can,' Pietro thought with his lightning fast thought process making his head go a mile a minute.

/\/\/\/\

Magneto exchanged a surprised glance with Mystique as they took in the scene before them; their #1 enemies were being threatened by kids barely into their teens. And now this brat had the _nerve _to address them in such a cocky way when he had no idea what their powers were or how powerful they were.

"So, what do you want?" asked the white-haired kid again, glaring at them with a fierce hostility.

/\/\/\/\

The duel had begun; and it was a fierce one. Harry, while not being as trained as Umbridge obviously was, was still a _very _good fighter, and Umbridge also had anger to fuel her magic. To put it shortly, this would be a fight remembered in the history books for a long time at Hogwarts.

Jinxes flew; hexes soared; curses shot out; Shield Charms appeared everywhere.

Shouts echoed around the two dueling wizards, the Hogwarts students screaming for Harry and the Ministry employees yelling for Umbridge.

Most of the spells went so fast, both duelists would have to dodge instead of using the dignified Shield Charms they'd been taught.

Unbeknownst to everyone watching, there was a very angry witness to the battle; Hermione stalked on the outside of the ring, angrily watching as her boyfriend fought the old hag, matching spell for spell.

'If she hurts him…' she thought, 'If she hits him with a single curse, I'll rip her head off with that ridiculous necklace she's wearing.'

/\/\/\/\

"You fight for mutant superiority?"

The look on Pietro's face was a look of pure and utter glee; he hadn't been this happy since…. Ever.

"Yes. And we thought you kids might want in on it," said Erik. He hadn't expected Pietro and Wanda to have allies, and telling them he was their father would've seemed much too odd, so he had improvised and told them what the Brotherhood did. And by the look on the kid's face, that had been a smart move.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: I am SO sorry this chapter is so short! I just wanted to get it out of the way before I had to study for a stupid geography test! Hope you enjoyed my stupidly short chapter! LATERS!  
>-Wind<em>


	9. Choosing Sides

_A/N: OH MY F-ING GOD I AM SO SORRY! My mind went blank for this story for so long I never thought I'd update again! Luckily, I was reading some X-Men fanfics the other day and read about Pietro and Wanda and I realized I really wanted to get back into this storyline, though it's probably going to focus a little more on these twins more than Hermione now. Sorry about that! Anyway, it's about damn time I got on with the story!_

/\/\/\/\

"Wait, you can't seriously be thinking of joining them, can you? !" cried Jean, stepping toward Quicksilver only to be immediately blocked by Scarlet Witch. "Take another step! I _dare _you!" she snarled furiously. "Calm down, Scarlet," said Multiple-Man calmly, trying to diffuse some of the tension in his teammate.

Quicksilver turned to look at the X-Men, his eyes cold. "You people fight _for _humans. Me and my friends do the exact opposite, same as these guys. I'm definitely joining them, but not without consulting the others in this group."

/\/\/\/\

Pietro turned his gaze to his sister and their eyes locked. Being twins, they'd known each other their entire lives. Neither had to say a word to come to the conclusion that they both agreed; the Brotherhood, no doubt about it.

Now Pietro looked to Jamie Madrox, one of his best friends out of the group he'd gathered here. "Jamie? What do you say about all this?" he asked.

Jamie could tell from the Pietro said his real name that this was serious, but he just shrugged. "I don't care which side we choose. I just want to keep the kids safe," he said, his eyes darting to the crates before returning to Pietro.

Pietro nodded, deeming this a fair answer. "What about everyone else?" he called, raising his voice so everyone could hear him.

Slowly, the other mutants of the room revealed themselves; Psylocke; Pyro; Vanisher; Destiny; Sunfire; Jason Wyngarde, a.k.a. Mastermind; Lani Ubana, a.k.a. Lorelei; Isabella 'Bella' Gomez, a.k.a. Whirlpool; Raine Hillock, a.k.a. Rockslide; and all of the younger kids, children either too young or too shell-shocked to help make this decision.

"Brotherhood definitely," said Whirlpool with a wide grin. "Yeah. Forget about those whiny-ass X-Men. They're pathetic!" spat Lorelei fiercely. "I'm going with the guy in the cape," said Pyro cockily. "I prefer mutant superiority, thank you," sniffed Psylocke disdainfully. "Brotherhood for the win!" yelled Rockslide excitedly. Vanisher simply nodded in Magneto and Mystique's direction. "I don't care who we go with, just so long as the kids stay safe," said Sunfire, Destiny nodding in agreement beside him with her hand on his arm to steady herself. "I agree," said Mastermind, placing a protective hand on the shoulder of one of the smaller mutant kids.

"Well, that decides it then!" said Pietro, turning back to the X-Men with a mischievous grin. Cyclops looked ready to argue when suddenly Pixie teleported next to him, along with Toad, Caliban, and the whole Silver-X Team. "OK, whose ass are we kicking, Pietro? Both groups?" asked Laura, letting her claws slide out of her knuckles and feet.

Pietro grinned at his old companion. "Good to see you too, Laura. In truth, it turns out you won't have to kick anyone's ass. Our group is joining the Brotherhood of Mutants."

Laura fell out of her defensive pose and turned to him, eyes filled with shock. "Are you serious? ! We came here for nothing? ! Damn it Maximoff, I should tear you apart right now!" she snarled furiously, making Pietro cringe.

"On the contrary, you didn't come here for nothing," Magneto spoke up before Laura could pounce. Laura spun around to him, eyes flashing. "Oh? Is that so? Who are you, old man, and what do you want?" she snarled.

Magneto's eye seemed to twitch a little at the 'old man', but he said calmly, "If your group also hates humans, then you'd be a valuable addition to the Brotherhood. What do you say? Do you want to take the fight to the humans or not?"

Laura looked so shocked it would've been hilarious if her claws weren't inches from Pietro's face. She seemed hesitant for a moment, but Shelly spoke up, "That doesn't sound bad. What about you guys?"

"Taking the fight to the humans. Me is liking this idea!" said Post, rubbing his hands together evilly. "Sweet. I'll come too as long as we stick together," said Aurora. Fatale shrugged. "As long as I can stab some things, I'll be happy," she said, fondly smiling at her knife, making her teammates edge away from her slightly.

Laura's face became determined. "Alright! We'll come along, then!" she said.

"HOLD ON A SECOND!" yelled Jean, running forward past Wanda and Jamie and stopping in front of Pietro and Laura. "Are you nuts? ! The Brotherhood is just going to use you until you're useless! Then they'll toss you aside! It's what they do with everyone!" she protested.

"Jean!" warned Storm, and Jean spun around to find Wanda right behind her, her hand glowing red. "I told you not to take another step! Get the hell away from my brother!" she snarled.

/\/\/\/\

What was it that made the shield spell fail? Did Harry say the wrong words, or get his wand movement wrong? Did he not have the strength to keep the shield up? Did some divine being decide, '_Hey, I should let this guy get hurt to see what his girlfriend does!'_?

What ever it was, when Harry's shield charm failed to block Umbridge's hex, it the resulting mini-explosion sent him flying backwards into a wall, where his head hit with a loud _crack!_

'Ha! And now the finishing blow!' thought Umbridge. The air was filled with the cheers of the Ministry officials and the groans of the Hogwarts students, mutant or not. Umbridge stalked toward Harry, where he tried to clear his head and get back up, to no avail.

The teachers finally decided enough was enough and were about to step in when all of the metal in the room began to hum and shake, freezing everyone in place.

/\/\/\/\

Hermione darted forward out of the crowd, screaming Harry's name as he crumpled to the floor in pain, ignoring Umbridge and her associates for the time being.

Hermione fell to her knees beside her boyfriend as his eyes grew foggy. Gently, she lifted his head to reveal a matted tangle of bloody hair where he'd hit the wall. Harry groaned. "I'm sorry!" she hissed, quickly placing his head back down.

"Looks like I'll have to sit the rest of this one out," he murmured, winking at Hermione the way he did when he made a joke. "Give them hell for me."

Harry bit down on his lip as the pain built inside his head. For a second, it seemed the pain wouldn't end, but then he sank into the everlasting bliss of unconsciousness.

Hermione slowly got to her feet, the metal around her shaking and trembling. "… Alright. Now you've made me mad!" she hissed angrily, turning slowly around to face Umbridge, seething with rage.

Umbridge seemed shocked to see Hermione was a mutant too, but not for long; the fancy necklace she'd been wearing for months suddenly tightened around her neck, cutting off her air supply.

Umbridge choked, dropping her wand and clawing desperately at the necklace as it tightened further and further, all the while unable to tear her eyes away from Hermione's furious glare.

/\/\/\/\

This was it.

She'd been waiting to do this for a long time. Hermione couldn't help a sly smile of satisfaction to cross her face as Umbridge choked and gasped in front of her. A ring of silverware, candlesticks, and similar metal items floated around the two of them, cutting off any rescue for the pathetic bitch in front of her. The rage Harry usually suppressed now poured forth uncontrollably, so potent that it ringed Hermione's vision with red.

'It's about time this happened,' she thought in satisfaction, a sadistic grin sliding onto her face as Umbridge turned red, then blue, still clawing for air she couldn't get.

Hermione had no idea who, but someone suddenly appeared behind her, and before she could turn and fight, a sharp _thwack! _sent her to the ground. Hermione had just enough time to realize Umbridge wasn't choking anymore and everyone in the entire Great Hall was staring at her before she sank into darkness.

/\/\/\/\

_A/N: Yep. A cool chapter for my first update in forever! Sorry guys! I'll try not to let that happen again; I'll update again soon! Laters!  
>-Wind<em>


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